Wellbores are formed in subterranean formations for various purposes including, for example, extraction of oil and gas from the subterranean formations and extraction of geothermal heat from the subterranean formations. Wellbores can exhibit extremely aggressive environments. For example, wellbores can exhibit abrasive surfaces, can be filled with corrosive chemicals (e.g., caustic drilling muds, well fluids, such as salt water, crude oil, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide, etc.), and can exhibit increasing high temperatures and pressures at progressively deeper “downhole” locations.
The extremely aggressive environments of wellbores can rapidly degrade the materials of components of tools, and other assemblies used in various downhole applications (e.g., drilling applications, conditioning applications, logging applications, measurement applications, monitoring applications, exploring applications, etc.). Such degradation limits operational efficiency of these components, tools and assemblies, and results in undesirable repair and replacement costs. Accordingly, there is a continuing need for downhole tools and assemblies having components exhibiting material characteristics capable of withstanding such extremely aggressive environments, as well as for methods of forming such downhole components, tools, and assemblies.
One approach toward forming downhole components, tools, and assemblies capable of withstanding such extremely aggressive environments of wellbores includes boronizing the downhole components, tools, and assemblies. Boronizing, also known as “boriding,” is a thermal diffusion process in which boron atoms diffuse into surfaces of a metal to form metal borides exhibiting relatively enhanced properties (e.g., thermal resistance, hardness, toughness, chemical resistance, abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, reduction in friction coefficient, mechanical strength, etc.) as compared to the metal. Unfortunately, however, conventional methods of boriding components for downhole tools and assemblies can be cost-prohibitive and expose the downhole components to undesirably high temperatures. For example, conventional methods of boriding components for downhole tools and assemblies can be time consuming (e.g., powder pack boriding, gas boriding, and fluidized bed boriding processes requiring from about 8 hours to about 10 hours of processing time; plasma boriding processes requiring from about 15 hours to about 25 hours of processing time; molten salt boriding processes requiring from about 6 hours to about 8 hours of processing time; etc.), and can include exposing the downhole components to elevated temperatures that may alter a shape of a borided component or cause dimensions of the component to fall outside of engineering tolerances (e.g., such as by warping the component). Such high temperatures may also cause undesirable degradation of certain materials, which may be present in or on the component, tool, or assembly being borided.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have new methods, systems, and apparatuses for boriding components for downhole tools and assemblies that are simple, fast, cost-effective, and meet engineering tolerances as compared to conventional methods, systems, and apparatuses for boriding downhole components, tools, and assemblies. Such methods, systems, and apparatuses may facilitate increased adoption and use of borided components, tools, and assemblies in downhole applications.